Recently I was editing an audio transcript that a client is turning into a book. The information was excellent, and I’m sure it made a great teleseminar. However, it never fails to amaze me how the spoken word can be given so much more meaning and clarity simply by altering your pacing, tone and emphasis. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t translate as well into the written word. Audio transcripts produce a fun written editing task, one where I am frequently changing words for greater specificity and clarity, eliminating run-on sentences, and eliminating ambiguous pronoun references.

So, remember that reading your writing aloud helps make sure your writing is clear, but the opposite isn’t always true..spoken words don’t always make for clear writing.

Recently I was editing a book (on a financial topic) and a few times I corrected the author’s use of two commonly confused
words: “insure” and “ensure.” Because many others have trouble distinguishing the shades of meaning with these words, I
thought I’d do my part to clear up the confusion, and have thrown in a third similar word to the mix: assure. First, the
definition, then an example.

Assure: to declare earnestly, with sincere intention. “He assured her he would be forever faithful.”

Ensure: to make certain or guarantee something: “She bought her son twenty pairs of socks to ensure he was never without clean
ones between washings.”

Insure: to guarantee against loss or harm.”He insured his life for a half million dollars so his family wouldn’t struggle if
he met an early death.”

Here’s a quick cheatsheet to check your usage:
Assure: Think of the word “reassure.” Very similar meaning.
Ensure: Think of “make certain.”
Insure: Similar to ensure, but there’s usually a financial guarantee.

Maybe you’ve heard yourself saying to others, or even thinking to yourself, “I really should write a book.” There’s likely a reason. Whether you know your business information will help thousands of people, your memoir will entertain and inspire readers, or your romance novel will make women swoon over your hero, there’s a reason to listen to that quiet voice nagging you to publish your story.

If you’ve been afraid that you won’t have time, the money or the discipline to write a book, don’t let that stop you. It’s easier than you think, and it can be accomplished with a reasonable budget. Sure, it takes time, talent, and some organizational skills, but the effort will be worth the reward. And if you need help, either from start to finish or with various pieces of the process, lots of professionals will be happy to assist you.

So, since this is the start of a New Year, I’m going to challenge you to add “Write my book” to the rest of your goals for 2012. And if you’ve already written your book but sales aren’t what you’d like them to be, it’s not too late to step up your marketing efforts too. Each year, each week, each day can be a brand new start!

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”-Little Gidding II

Since the holiday season is approaching, I thought a non-business related post might be fun. So the topic for today is
5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Me:
1) I’ve flown above the ground in unconventional ways: I’ve been in a hot air balloon and learned how to skydive on the sand dunes of the Outer Banks.
2) I’ve met a few celebrities: Penn (of Penn and Teller), Ollie North, Ron Livingston (of Office Space) are the most noteable.
3) I have a strong aversion to anything with an artificial orange taste: When I was almost three, I overdosed on St. Joseph’s baby aspirin. That’s the only thing I can trace it to.
4) I used to be a radio DJ: It was at a small AM station in a small town, but it still counts.
5) I have no fingerprints: When I was applying for clearances for the schools, the FBI could not get readable fingerprints. (Does that mean I could commit the perfect crime??)

Your turn: What are 5 things I don’t know about you? Comment below!

After the 100th time of being frustrated trying to find a matching lid to one of my disposable food storage containers, I added more of them to my grocery list. Then, when I had some downtime recently, I decided the cabinet where I stored them needed to be organized. I took every container and every lid out, and slowly but surely matched all I could. Surprisingly, I found that, yes, I had many orphan containers and lids, but I also had so many useable storage containers with lids that I didn’t need to buy any more.

There was so much clutter in that cabinet that I thought I’d need to throw the whole lot out and start over. Sure, some containers and lids I had to throw out because they either didn’t match up with anything or they were just in too bad of shape. But the vast majority, once sorted, now met my needs and I could cross those items off my shopping list.

A few days ago, I had a conversation with a client about her blog. She has lots and lots of content out there in the web, in audio interviews and in books she’s written, yet she struggles to routinely come up with regular and meaningful blog posts. It wasn’t necessary for this client to go out and create all new content. All she needed to do was to take time and evaluate what material she had, find the pieces that matched up and still had life in them, then start filing them in her “writing cabinet” of potential blog posts.

You can do the same thing. Take a look through your computer files. Create a new folder of “Blog Post Ideas” and start copying previous articles, tips and any other writing into it. Hire someone to transcribe some audio interviews or podcasts you’ve done. Then, evaluate what you have. Like the containers and lids, see what matches up and stacks up. Maybe you can break one article into multiple parts for a blog post. Maybe you can combine pieces of a few different writings to create a whole new concept or a spin on an existing one.

No, this doesn’t mean you’ll never need to come up with a new piece of writing. You will. I’m sure one day I’ll need to actually buy those disposable storage containers again, but for now simply sorting through what I had will provide me with enough material to last me a while. Since my kitchen cabinet is now organized, I’ll take my own advice and check out my old content and idea files, including the ten half-written blog post “drafts” my new web designer reminded me I had just sitting there. I can’t wait to dig in!

Since everyone is using November to share what they are most thankful for, I’ve decided to share mine (with a business spin). Let me know what yours are too!

1)      Books: Without them, my life would be a lot more dull (reading for fun) and my income would be a lot lower (editing/promoting them)!

2)      My Virtual Colleagues: Some of the people I’m closest to I see only once a year or less. Yet, I value their friendship and mentorship and I appreciate how they stave away the loneliness of working from home.

3)      The Chicago Manual of Style: It answers almost all my questions of: “Do I edit this sentence this way or that way?”

4)      My Kindle Fire: For why I love this toy, read my initial review.

5)      My Bookkeeper: I can’t live without Candy and Lanel of Offassist. I’ve tried. They’ll be my bookkeepers until I close the doors on my business.

6)      Systems: From my proposal template to my work agreement to my editing process, the systems I’ve developed for my business help keep me organized and save me lots of time. I’ve developed them for clients too and they’ve loved them!

7)      Conferences: There’s just no substitute for getting out of the four walls of your home office, being around like-minded colleagues and learning new tools to grow your business in whichever way you want. My favorite this year was definitely Accelerate Live. Next year’s is on a cruise ship. I can’t wait.

8)      My Clients: I’ve had some great new clients lately—ones I can partner with and help on an ongoing basis. That’s the direction I want to move my business in—more ongoing, consistent work with some clients who are a great mutual fit. Without valued clients, there is just no need for me to be in business.

9)      My iPhone: I feel like an “old timer” but I can remember the days when unless I had a laptop or was somewhere with a computer, if I wasn’t sitting at my desk in my home office, I couldn’t check, respond, or send emails. I felt tied to my office. Now, whether I’m in an airport, at the community pool, or waiting at a doctor’s office, I can stay in touch via email, phone, and social media.

So what business items are YOU thankful for?

I caved to peer pressure (haha) and bought my 3^rd Kindle product—a Kindle Fire. I knew, functionally, it would be a cross between my current 2^nd Gen Kindle, my iPhone, and my husband’s iPad. I’ve had it for about a week and a half, and while I don’t have it fully set up yet (I don’t have email activated and no additional apps), I’m enjoying it immensely.

Here’s what I’m using it for: I’ve transferred most of my (allowable) iTunes library to it. I spent a decent amount of time researching how to do this until I poked around and discovered I could do it through Amazon’s Cloud (duh!). I love the free content that comes with my Amazon Prime subscription. I’ve watched a couple free movies on it (Clockwork Orange and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), some free TV shows on it (early episodes of Arrested Development I hadn’t seen) and a Louis C.K. comedy special. The video is surprisingly clear and smooth.

I have not read any books on it yet (though I haven’t read a book on my regular Kindle since I got the Fire either–too busy!), but when I briefly pulled up one of my books on the device, I immediately noticed it reads nothing like my trusty Kindle 2—I missed the E-ink. It was like reading a book on my computer screen except with more glare. My husband thinks I could adjust the brightness and that would help, but I haven’t tried that yet. Regardless, I doubt I’ll give up reading on my regular Kindle anytime soon.

I can access Facebook and enjoy seeing it on my Kindle Fire much more than on my iPhone because my screen is bigger. I can also access Hootsuite, and though I haven’t done it yet, there is a program that will allow me to read Word documents that are emailed to me, which would be nice for travelling.

This is a great, portable entertainment device. I sometimes sprawl out on my bed and watch a movie on it in peace, or I can see it being a great device for business travel (great way to kill time on a plane with a pair of headphones) or personal car travel (I could download some movies and allow my kids to use it or myself if I’m not driving). I don’t think it’s as versatile or powerful as my husband’s iPad, but so far, I expect it will fit my needs and get a lot of use. I like the small, portable size. If I need something more powerful, I’ll have to pack my laptop.

For those of you who have a Kindle Fire: What do you use it for most?

Some parts of this book were very gripping and extremely well-written. Others, unfortunately, were so “woe is me” that I couldn’t identify with the “character” (Suzanne) and I felt like important information was being shielded from the reader. I had a lot of unanswered questions, which I will spare you from here due to the spoiler aspect. When writing a memoir, I think transparency (or lack thereof) is very apparent and important.

There’s no question that Suzanne had a difficult upbringing and a crazy mother who affected her ability to form healthy relationships with people. And though I’m not a huge believer in psychics, Suzanne’s stories had me convinced.

I was spellbound almost to the halfway mark of the book, where Suzanne fell into the traditional memoir formula of starting therapy and reaching a deeper understanding of herself. Unfortunately, Suzanne comes across as completely self absorbed–caught up in her own healing to the exclusion of everything else. She spends years in therapy and groups, spends time at an Indian sweat lodge, and focuses almost exclusively on her own recovery. By the end of the book, the thing I cheered for most was that Suzanne that she finally found some peace in her occupation.

3 stars. More stories about her psychic experiences and the lives of the people she touched, disclosure about how her children were affected by her choices Suzanne made, and admission of her own role in the problems she experienced would have gained more stars for this book.

Recently I had an email exchange with a client. She’s been stuck at the same spot in her process (book is edited, layout complete, just a few more details and it’s ready to go) for about 6 months. That prompted the discussion of “Well, what are you afraid of?” Granted, releasing a book out to the world is a scary proposition. So today, I will try to allay some common fears:

• Are you afraid your book is not good enough? (it is!)
• Are you afraid that someone might find something wrong in it, whether it’s a typo or a minor layout flaw or even a fact in the book that is somewhat questionable? (they quite well might. It happens a lot but so what?)
• Are you afraid some people who read it won’t like it or find it useful? (that happens too sometimes, you can’t please everyone, but you will please a LOT of people).
• Are you afraid that it won’t sell? (that is largely dependent on how successful you are spreading the word about your book. If you can’t do it yourself, I can help with marketing.)
• Are you afraid it WILL sell and your business will take off so fast you will soon become overwhelmed and stressed? (Well, it might, but you can manage that when it happens and really, what a good problem to have!)

So, what are you waiting for? You can do it! If you need any help, let me know!

Every once in a while I’ll get a manuscript that has straight quotes in it when I want curly quotes. It’s extremely labor intensive to manually change them all, so recently I researched how to make the changes throughout the whole Microsoft Word 2007 document rather than one at a time.

Here’s the process: Office (window graphic) button>Word options>Proofing>Autocorrect options>autoformat>replace menu>straight quotes with smart quotes (check box).

Then you go into “Replace” in the edit menu. In the find box, type a quotation mark. In the replace box, type a quotation mark. Select “Replace all”. Then do the same for a single quotation mark. Voila! Takes a minute and saves a ton of time!